Vanity Fair - Page 526/573

I like to dwell upon this period of her life and to think that she was

cheerful and happy. You see, she has not had too much of that sort of

existence as yet, and has not fallen in the way of means to educate her

tastes or her intelligence. She has been domineered over hitherto by

vulgar intellects. It is the lot of many a woman. And as every one of

the dear sex is the rival of the rest of her kind, timidity passes for

folly in their charitable judgments; and gentleness for dulness; and

silence--which is but timid denial of the unwelcome assertion of ruling

folks, and tacit protestantism--above all, finds no mercy at the hands

of the female Inquisition. Thus, my dear and civilized reader, if you

and I were to find ourselves this evening in a society of greengrocers,

let us say, it is probable that our conversation would not be

brilliant; if, on the other hand, a greengrocer should find himself at

your refined and polite tea-table, where everybody was saying witty

things, and everybody of fashion and repute tearing her friends to

pieces in the most delightful manner, it is possible that the stranger

would not be very talkative and by no means interesting or interested.

And it must be remembered that this poor lady had never met a gentleman

in her life until this present moment. Perhaps these are rarer

personages than some of us think for. Which of us can point out many

such in his circle--men whose aims are generous, whose truth is

constant, and not only constant in its kind but elevated in its degree;

whose want of meanness makes them simple; who can look the world

honestly in the face with an equal manly sympathy for the great and the

small? We all know a hundred whose coats are very well made, and a

score who have excellent manners, and one or two happy beings who are

what they call in the inner circles, and have shot into the very centre

and bull's-eye of the fashion; but of gentlemen how many? Let us take a

little scrap of paper and each make out his list.

My friend the Major I write, without any doubt, in mine. He had very

long legs, a yellow face, and a slight lisp, which at first was rather

ridiculous. But his thoughts were just, his brains were fairly good,

his life was honest and pure, and his heart warm and humble. He

certainly had very large hands and feet, which the two George Osbornes

used to caricature and laugh at; and their jeers and laughter perhaps

led poor little Emmy astray as to his worth. But have we not all been

misled about our heroes and changed our opinions a hundred times? Emmy,

in this happy time, found that hers underwent a very great change in

respect of the merits of the Major.